Deconstructed Roses (+ a commentary on Art in Italy)

Since moving to Italy I've had very little time to get back to art. I say 'get back' because I used to be quite serious about it throughout junior high and especially high school where I took Advanced Placement fine arts and literally spent all my free blocks in the studio working on a portfolio that, while submitted to the AP College Board, never got submitted for any college admissions. I so admire my friends from art class who followed that dream to art schools around the world, including RISD; some studying in Florence. It's a terrible thing to put something as beautiful as art in your back pocket. That's perhaps also why it's taken me so long to brush the dust off my brushes. I had to throw some of my paints out as they had dried up in their tubes, brought all the way across the ocean from Canada. I've felt bad for abandoning art because in the end, it's one of those things that is part of a person. Dance runs through the veins of my little brother. Oils run through mine. And reflecting on this, I could rather deduce that I am drawn to Italy for the reasons so many artists past and present have been drawn to her- here, you are constantly touched by Michelangelo's golden light, colors that exist only in Italy. Here I am surrounded by beauty, on a Sunday afternoon I can admire the work of the masters or even just take a walk in the places that inspired them. 

For more artwork (I haven't posted much, but there are some old pieces), click on "Artwork etc." under the Categories section on the sidebar. 

"Deconstructed Roses" (Acrylics on stretched canvas). Completed February 22/16.